To The Beat Of A Different Drum
by Daydream1
Summary: Newsies meets marching band! No one really knows about the mini-soap opera that is band or the battles they go through to be the best but the band students themselves. As the marching season progresses, can they beat out their competition?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: (sniggers evilly) They are all MINE!!! (grabs hot-N-happy newsie boys and runs off until Disney writes up a lawsuit and slaps it on her retreating back) Aw, they caught me! Foiled again! (Disney lawsuit threatens to crush little author) ALRIGHT! They aren't mine! (releases hot-N-happy newsie boys) Can I keep just one? A small one? (scowls as the lawsuit slams down upon her) It's only Racetrack! (Racetrack glares at Daydream for insulting his importance)

Jack Kelly skidded into the bandroom with his regular suave style, coming to a jerking halt as he tripped onto the carpet. The other section leaders were already sitting lazily around the front of the room, their attention darting from their director to their not-so-fashionably late drum major. Nobody tried to stop their snickers as Jack walked quickly to a chair, his face bright red with a mix of embarrassment and running.

"What, your dog eat your keys again?" Spot asked as Jack sat down beside him. Spot was the percussion captain and probably the most terrifying person around if you asked the freshmen.

"No, my cat." Those within hearing distance chuckled. Mr. Talington, their director, gave them a cut-off for silence.

"Quiet down, people, we have news to discuss." He looked at his motley crew of leaders. This certainly was going to be an interesting year. He turned to Daydream, the French Horn section leader.

"Are you the only girl here, Ms. McCaskall? He asked, looking around at all the boys. Daydream did a quick check across the room and frowned.

"I guess..." she said with a shrug.

"I thought you'd be happy, Day," Racetrack teased as he tugged at her amber-colored hair. They had been friends since as long as both of them could remember; their parents had been buddies during high school and still continued their friendship. Now the pair were both juniors and section leaders. Daydream mock-pouted and scooted over towards Specs, knowing the brass captain wouldn't let Race mess with her. Race snorted at her petty escape attempt. He'd get her after the meeting.

"Does anyone know where the rest of you are?" Mr. T leaned on his music stand, drilling his students with an annoyed gaze. If this was how they were going to start the season off...

"Flute girl's off at the beach 'til band camp." Skittery said off-handedly. He was strewn over three chairs with a leg thrown over the back of one. He was idly watching Mr. Talington out of one eye. Itey moved lightning fast as he kicked one of the chairs, sending Skitts sprawling on the ground. Both Skittery and Mr. T glared at Itey as he grinned and ducked behind his marimba.

"Focus," Mr. T called as the group laughed. He was slowly becoming exasperated with their antics. "Anyone else?"

"The majorette had to work today," David said enthusiastically. He was the junior drum major this year and had personally taken it upon himself to know where everyone was at all times. More than once an angry band member had been forced to explain why they had missed summer practice to a less than sympathetic David.

"She always has work," Kid Blink complained bitterly. He, like most of the other boys, thought that the majorette was quite cute and missed her being there.

"You know, I bet she's off with her boyfriend," Daydream put in with her usual bright air. The room went dead silent.

"She has a boyfriend?" Mush asked, an anxious tone to his voice. His dark brown eyes had gone as wide as a Pound Puppies and he looked just as pitiful. Daydream giggled impishly, a cocked smile on her face.

"You never know." The boys let out their breath as Daydream laughed. "You're all way too dramatic."

"At least we aren't cruel!" exclaimed Blink, glaring daggers at the girl. She wrapped her arms around her knees and beamed.

"I'm not cruel, just evil."

"Quiet!" Mr. Talington shouted, his voice filled with frustration. "We're never going to get anything done if you keep on like this!" Everyone stared at the usually passive director. Scolded, they decided to stay quiet. "That's better. Where's the Color Guard Captain?"

"Vacation." Specs replied, picking at the carpet he was sitting on. It went on like this until all of the missing people were accounted for.

"So we're missing five, including two captains and a majorette." Mr. Talington shook his head slowly. "I told all of you that this was a mandatory meeting."

"But you can't help it if your family's on vacation. That's mandatory too," Itey said in defense. The others nodded and voiced their agreement. Mr. T raised his hands.

"Alright, alright, I'll accept vacation as an excuse." There was an angry spluttering sound from Blink.

"You mean I could've been in California right now?!" He glowered as the rest of the teenagers tried to hide their grins. "It isn't funny!" David shrugged.

"You really shouldn't care, Blink." Blink gave him the glare of a lifetime. The kid either didn't notice it or chose to ignore him. "This way you're showing that you care so much about the band that you're willing to miss an awesome vacation to be here!" David said with utter conviction. Suddenly he realized everyone was staring at him. "What?"

"Man, Davey, you really are a band geek." Spot said as he shook his head in disgust. David frowned.

"I am not."

"You wore your band shirt for picture day," accused Spot. David crossed his arms in pure stubborn toddler fashion.

"There was a football game that night and I was showing my band pride!"

"Do I have to say anymore?" Spot said, motioning towards David and his obvious total love of band. The other shook their heads. They were quite aware of the junior's band obsession and didn't want to delve into it too deeply.

Mr. Talington smiled at his star pupil. It was true; David was totally devoted to the band, heart, mind, and soul. He was a wonderful trumpet player but Kid Blink was more than happy to see him out of the section. That way, there was no competition for Blink and he was rid of someone he saw as the biggest pest alive.

"Mr.Carpenter, I'm sorry you missed your vacation, but this was mandatory meeting." He rubbed his chin and eyed his students. "I have half a mind to put other people in their positions."

"Yep, half a mind's about right," Racetrack muttered beneath his breath. Daydream tried to cover her laughter with a hand as Specs looked sideways at them.

"For now, though, I'll let them stay."

"Yay?" Itey said, looking around the room for support.

"Yay," They echoed half-heartedly. Itey grinned.

"Yay!"

"Okay, then. Now that we're past the celebration, let's get down to business. First, you all remember that freshman marching week this year is going to be held at camp the week before everyone else comes, right?" The group nodded. "Good. And on a more exciting note..." Mr. T picked up a big blue notebook off the stand in front of him. Immediately the room popped to attention. All eyes were on the dark blue notebook in the director's hand. He smirked at his new found power. "This, my little band minions, is this year's show. I know how much you've all been waiting for this. Except, of course, Jack and David." The two drum majors glared at all of those who had pestered them for show information throughout the long off-season. David had actually been jumped by Blink and Mush who had demanded every last detail on pain of an unshiny trumpet.

"What is it already?" demanded Skittery who had found a better, less vulnerable, seating arrangement.

"Yeah, we got a right to know," put in Specs impatiently. They were all leaning in close as if that would help them to hear. Mr. Talington's quiet smile suddenly turned evil as he put the notebook back on the stand.

"But you'll just have to wait until camp with the rest of the band." The teenagers stared at Mr. T with disbelief.

"What?" Mush finally said. Everyone began talking at once, all trying to get Mr. T to change his decision. Thankfully, Spot's cursing was covered up in the overall roar of angry teens.

"I think this is how you can prove your merit as leaders, Mr. Meyers. If you can learn your music and drill before everyone else and still control your sections, then I'll know that I've picked the right people to head up my band. If not, then you can kiss your position good-bye." They stared at him, wide-eyed.

"You're joking."

"No, Mr. Higgins, I'm not."

"I think this is a wonderful way..." David began but Blink cut him off.

"David, shut up you little butt-kisser!" David stuck his tongue out at the trumpet section leader who looked like he was about to jump out of his seat and sock him one. Daydream shook her head at the curly-haired boy.

"You're so freshmanish."

"See, this is why I'm doing it this way." Attention went from the budding fight to the director. "You're not showing me that you're suitable leaders right now." Skittery shrugged.

"We're not around the others right now."

"That shouldn't matter. You're supposed to be cream of the crop, people that all the good qualities can be found in. You're good players,"

"Yep, Spot's definitely a player." Day whispered to herself. Spot leaned over the chair in front him and brought himself down to the girl's level.

"What was that?" He hissed into her ear. Daydream threw on a grin as she turned to face Spot.

"Nothing."

"Shut up." ordered Specs. Spot looked like he was about to bash the brass captain's head in.

"and leaders. That's was why you were chosen for your specific rank." Mr. Talington ended his mini-speech by giving each of his students a tough stare.

"So you're going to demote us?" Itey sounded pitiful as he peeked over the top of his marimba, only his dark brown eyes showing.

"Only if you give me reason too."

"Oh great, I'll be gone in a week!" Blink exclaimed as he threw up his arms in exaggerated defeat.

The rest of the meeting was anticlimactic compared to the beginning. Afterwards, the group met out in the parking lot, mostly sticking around Jack's car except for Racetrack and Daydream who were wrestling in the nearby grass. Race has tackled Day the minute they were out of the school. It seemed to the others that no one was going to win any time soon so they ignored them.

"We need our music!" Kid Blink complained as he leaned against Jack's Mustang.

"Don't scratch the car," muttered Jack. He ran his hand over the bright red paint job with tender affection. His car was one of the coolest to ever grace Pine Needle High School's measly parking lot. He didn't need someone scratching it right before school started. Out of spite, Blink leaned into the car harder.

"I'm with Blink. Even if he needs some way to test us, this isn't the way to do it," Skittery interjected, his tone cross. He was sitting on the tailgate of Spot's truck, propping himself up on the side. Beside him, Itey was nodding his head.

"If we can't give the music to our sections, then they can't learn it by band camp, and if they can't learn it by band camp then band camp will be wasted on learning music that could've already been learned if he had given us our music at this meeting to give to our sections!" Itey sucked in a huge breath of air as they all gawked at him. "You know?"

"You're freakin' weird, Itey, but I understand what you're saying. I think." Spot said. He was inside the truck trying to get the radio to work. Cursing the faulty mechanics, he slammed his fist down on the dashboard. Miraculously the radio sparked to life. Spot looked at his hand and smirked. Oh, he was so good. Meanwhile, Daydream and Racetrack had finished their wrestling match and had returned to the parking lot. They both were covered in dead grass and dirt along with the flattering green grass stains. Jack rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you two go make out like normal people?" he asked with a lurid gleam in his eyes. Race and Day ogled for a split second before they took a step away from each other.

"Ja-ack!" Daydream whined plaintively. David shook his head at the two of them.

"And you say I'm freshmanish. At least I'm not the one who's rolling around in the dirt, setting a bad example for everyone." Racetrack looked around.

"Who's there to set a bad example for besides you, Angel-boy?" David scowled at the Italian.

"Don't call me that! You're not supposed to call drum majors nicknames."

"Who cares, Angel-boy?" Racetrack's gibes were making David pretty angry judging by the way the boy's ears were turning all red.

"Shut up, Racetrack."

"Guys, don't," Mush pleaded as they stared each other down. They had never been the best of friends and this really wasn't helping. Luckily, Itey jumped to the rescue, a smile lighting up his face as he threw his arms wide. Mush had to duck to escape the flailing limbs.

"So who wants to take me to go watch Shrek2? Any takers? It's cute and adorable!" Everyone laughed as the tension dissolved. After figuring out exactly whose civic duty it was to take Itey to the movies, everyone piled into their vehicles and headed out of the parking lot.

A/N: Okay, that was a little long, sorry. I just wanted to establish...stuff...meep. Anyways, YAY!! This actually has a story line and isn't all random. YIPPERS! Newsies stare Okay, no more yippers...newsies nod imperiously Bleh...


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: grins Hey everybody! I'm just sitting on my bed...trying not to write the disclaimer. Racetrack's trying to get me to write it but I'm not gonna. I don't wanna write it. (grins at Race) You can't make me. (smirks) He's glaring at me.

Race: Write dat disclaimer right now! You'll be lawsuited if ya don't.

Pff, like you care. Anyways, him and the others have been nagging at me to update this thing. Not that I didn't want too. Don't frown so much, Race, your face will stick that way then we'll have to get a plastic surgeon to fix it and I really don't wanna go through all that. (smirks)

Race: growling Gimme tha computer, I'll write da disclaimer. (grabs at laptop)

Hey, stop it! I'll write it, okay?! Gosh, newsies are so impatient. Anyways, I don't own the Newsies. More likely they own me!

Race: You got dat right, goilly!

Jack: (peeks in the door) What're you two doin? (looks at the computer) Hey, youse writing tha story, ain't ya? (yells out the door) Hey, Daydream's writing da story!

Newsies: YAY!! (stampede for Daydream's room)

Aww, darn it! (is surrounded by smelly newsies who are sitting on her bed) Don't y'all ever shower?

Newsies: Nope!

Le sigh! Alright, these are all the leader peoples! :

**Sections Leaders:**

Trumpets-Blink

Sousaphones; Baritones -Skittery

French Horn-Daydream

Trombones-Mush

Flutes; Piccolos- Swinger

Clarinets- Zodiac

Bari Sax- Spoon

Tenor Sax- Mob (Racetrack has now officially been demoted to just Alto Sax Section Leader Race is officially angry)

Alto Sax-Racetrack

Pit-Itey

**Drum Majors:**

Major-Jack Kelly

Major-David

Majorette-Fox

**Band Captains:**

Brass-Specs

Woodwind-Emotions (she's being bumped up to 12th grader, k? Hope you don't mind.)

Color Guard-Irish and Bookworm

Percussion-Spot

**And the Bandies! I love Bandies...**

Aqua-clarinet

Spitball-clarinet

Hornet-flute

Phoenix-flute

Sparks-flute

Rose-flute

Riff- alto saxophone

AJ- alto saxaphone

De- tenor sax

Shaddup (Shad)- trumpet

Nova-trumpet

Dashcon- baritone

Shock- sousaphone

Obsession-snare

Jinx-snare

Skam- cymbal

Nympho- quads

Bookworm-colorguard

Braids-colorguard

Maniac (Mani)- colorguard (Day to Lute: They do this weirdo mix between the jazz-running and marching, it's quite funny! )

CC IS CLOSED!!! I don't think I could possibly write any more people in here and survive! Don't worry if your charry doesn't show up in the next couple of chapters. These are mainly just intros of the section leaders, captains, and drum majors. No worries! Band camp starts in a few more chapters; this is just freshmen and leaders. Also, I set the story in North Carolina because that's where I live and I love it! And I don't know how other states conduct their marching band competitions or anything. The school is fashioned after mine for the most part. Also, the weather and other conditions here add for more mischief!

Situated between four little towns, Pine Needle High was a typical sized school for the small North Carolina county it presided in. At a thousand or so students, it was classed at 3A and proud of its status as a School of Excellence. The one-story building had been designed in the early 60's when no one had any idea that the local population would get a sudden jump-start of people moving in to enjoy the lazy life North Carolinians lead. The tight hallways were built into confusing figure eights; more than one student had lost their way to class because of them. In front of the school, two playing fields in a long row took up the space between road and the school, cut in half by the driveway leading to the front of the school. In a diagonal from the right corner of the school and up a short, fenced path was the student parking lot. Behind the parking lot and beside the school was the tennis court and baseball diamond. The forest that lined their edges was a favorite make-out spot for hormone crazed teenagers. A long walk across the parking lot would take you to the William MacKinnon football stadium that was affectionately called Loser's Square by the students. The entire campus was a reminder of the wilderness that surrounded it, flower beds and bushes placed in an aesthetically pleasing arrangement along the outer walls. Small courtyards sporting little streams and miniature trees were built between hallways, separating different parts of the building and adding to the confusion. Today, the lawn stretching from the entry driveway in front of the school to the school itself was covered with dozens of duffle bags and other kinds of suitcases. Almost forty young-looking students were milling around, chatting excitedly to their friends.

Today was the day the freshmen and band leaders were leaving for freshmen marching camp. It was also basically the first time the 9th had met their section leaders. 10th graders and up had been having marching meetings every month since summer let out, but freshmen were excused until marching camp. It was an old tradition that no one felt like breaking, no matter how stupid it sometimes seemed. Only drums and colorguard had let the freshmen come to meetings since their meetings were actually sectionals. Instead of mingling, the two groups were trying to stay as far away from each other as possible. Trying to separate themselves from the freshmen scene, a group of upperclassmen were sitting around and on the wooden parking lot fence.

"God, I hate freshman," Skittery snapped as he glowered at the care-free youths that kept shooting glances their way. He was trying to decide between ignoring them and giving them the birdie. The birdie was slowly wining.

"You don't mean that, Skitts. They're just enthusiastic," Mush said, grinning. A high-pitched trumpet blast made the group wince. "Reaaallly enthusiastic."

"I don't do enthusiasm," Skittery muttered darkly. Mush rolled his eyes. Skitts was a lost cause.

"I foresee headaches in your future," Zodiac said in a dry voice. She had just gotten back from the beach the day before and being shipped right off to freshman marching camp wasn't sitting well with her. Her pale skin hadn't even tanned so much as a shade; instead Zodiac was stuck with the light pink tone of faded sunburn.

"I think that prediction could go for all of us, Zo," Racetrack quipped. He was staring at a boy who was running around with his saxophone up under his arm like a football. Race was half expecting the kid to chuck it with full force at the flirty little girl he was chasing.

"You might want to stop him before he gives your section a bad name, Race," Swinger suggested as she followed Racetrack's line of sight. She was leaning against the fence Daydream and Skittery were sitting on.

"Why don't you get on to your flute player he's chasing? It's her fault," Race told her. Swinger frowned at him. She was the piccolo/flute section leader and was very proud of her section.

"How do you know that's a flute player? It might just be another one of your saxophones."

"No saxophone dresses like that! Not in my part of the section, anyway. The only people I know that wear that kind of clothes are flutes and a couple clarinets."

"Is that supposed to mean that you think all flute players dress like sluts? Because you know that would include me." Swinger had a dangerous look to her demeanor like a cougar about to attack. Race gave her a sly grin.

"I didn't say all of them. Just the majority."

"Hey, here comes Jack!" Kid Blink exclaimed before there could be bloodshed between the two. Sure enough, Jack's beautiful red Mustang was flying down the road. It came to a screeching halt right beside the lawn, startling the freshman who jumped as the older students laughed. Two people climbed out of the front while another slide over the side of the convertible. They walked over to the others under the stare of thirty-odd awed freshmen. A few of the braver 9th graders tentatively walked towards the car, complimenting its beauty.

"Touch the car and you'll all die painful deaths," Jack threatened, giving them a dangerous look. They all took a step away from the Mustang.

"Hey everybody!" exclaimed Itey as he plopped down in the grass between Racetrack and Zodiac. The pit section leader stretched out and began plucking up blades of grass to casually throw on to Zodiac's leg. Right behind him was Jack and Fox, a short girl with reddish-brown hair.

"Itey, you aren't any better than the freshmen," Fox said, a grin on her face. She was the drum majorette this year, working with both David and Jack as student directors. Her on-going war with her brother, Jinx who played the snare drum, had escalated drastically over the summer because of the secret show information. She eyed the freshmen multitude who looked like someone had fed them too much sugar. "Why is there so many this year?"

"Because Mr. T doesn't know how to say 'no' to their puppy faces," Jack told her, mimicking their puppy faces himself. Fox shoved him away, chuckling as she did so.

"It isn't that hard," Blink stated with a shrug. He looked pointedly at Daydream who was sitting across from him up on the fence. "No." Daydream raised her eyebrows. "See, that was easy."

"I'm not a freshman, you goofball."

"You sure do look like one." Blink replied, throwing up his arms against the impending attack. Daydream leapt off the fence just like she was supposed to, landing square on the trumpet player. She rolled away and glared at him.

"Just because I'm short doesn't mean I'm a freshman," she said, pulling a fallen pine needle out of her hair.

"I don't think your short, Day," Itey piped with an encouraging tone. Zodiac had brushed all the grass off her leg and onto him. Daydream smiled, her mood changing entirely.

"You don't?"

"No, you're more like vertically challenged. Yep, that definitely sounds better." The group laughed as the junior grumped to herself. A rumbling sound soon diverted their attention. They looked up to see two big white and blue activity buses roll into the driveway. Jack sighed.

"I guess we better go play babysitter." Grumbling, the upperclassmen got up and made their way over to the freshmen. Instructions were given out to be followed to a T while the other band leaders slowly appeared on the scene. Irish, one of the two color guard captains, made a show of almost wrecking her prized 1957 Chevy into Jack's Mustang. It was an amusing sight to see Jack fall down on his knees and cover his eyes in terror as Irish clung to her steering wheel, petrified. Everyone had a good laugh at it. The drums had to be loaded onto Spot's truck as soon as he got there. All percussion instruments were going this week even though most of the drumline wouldn't come to camp until the next week. Everyone's bags had to be loaded into the smaller of the two band trailers, the giant one all set to bring the older students stuff next week. Things weren't going so well with the loading process...

"Okay freshies, let's try to make an orderly pile with all your useless garbage, okay?" Mob, a tall senior with jet black hair, was practically screaming, his hands cupped around his mouth for a make-shift megaphone. He was standing up in the back of the trailer, glaring down like a dictator at all the freshman. He brought his hands down to his side and did the Peter Pan stance. Spoon, the slightly shorter girl who was sitting on the edge of the trailer, grinned up at him.

"Useless garbage? You must not be planning on making many friends this year," she joked. Spoon and Mob made up the older pair of the three saxophone section leaders, both topping Racetrack's marching band experience by a year. They really liked lording it over him too.

"Yes, useless garbage. They don't need half of it anyway," he said imperiously as he watched the underclassmen put all their suitcases and duffle bags to one side. A short boy beside the trailer sighed heavily to get their attention. Spoon narrowed her bright blue eyes.

"Yes?"

"I was just wondering if you two were going to sit their and gab all day or if you were going to put my stuff on the trailer." The both seniors stared at the uppity kid. He had on a pair of mirrored aviator sunglasses that he obviously thought made him look like he was off the movie Top Gun or something. Mob frowned at him. He wasn't in favor of freshman anyway.

"You're not going anywhere soon, are you?"

"No, but this stuff is getting heavy." Mob glanced at the horde of bags the boy had brought.

"What the hell is all of that?" He demanded as he crossed his arms across his chest. The nearby freshmen girls all stared at him, their eyes widening. Might as well, Mob was quite hot in his Italian goodness. It was a joke between all the band students that you had to be Italian to be in the saxophone section of the band. And, for the most part, it was true. Race and Mob often threatened that they were going to throw Spoon out since she wasn't 'Italian enough for their tastes.' Down on the ground the freshman was starting to get a neck cramp from having to look up at Mob.

"What does it look like? I thought high-schoolers were supposed to be smart..." Spoon grabbed at Mob as he jumped out of the trailer, a fierce look on his face. The crowd of students moved back as Mob stepped up to the freshman and poked him in the chest.

"Look, you little jackass..."

"Don't cuss around the freshmen, Mob," Spoon scolded in a bored tone. All of the female leaders had decided that the upperclassmen should try to set some sort of a rule where freshmen weren't exposed to cussing all the time. So far almost every guy there had broken the rule more than once. Mob gave her a half-amused look before rounding back on the freshman.

"Alright then, you little punk," he looked to Spoon for approval. Grinning, the girl gave him the go-ahead. "I don't take crap," a sharp glance at Spoon who was smirking, "like this sitting down. You should show some darn," He looked at the girl again who nodded, barely able to contain her laughter. "...respect for your elders. And get some patience." He moved back from the freshman. "What instrument do you play anyway, punk?"

"Tenor sax," he mumbled. Spoon burst out in uncontrollable laughter as Mob stood there slack-jawed. She slid off the back of the trailer and stumbled towards Mob, falling against him she was laughing so hard.

"Ha! He's yours! That's great!" She tried to stop chuckling but it was hard for her to stop when she got going, especially it was something as ironic as this. The freshman looked confused and panicky at the same time.

"What is she talking about?" he asked as Spoon went back to the trailer and started loading bags. By that time, Racetrack had also appeared to help with loading. He tried to ask Spoon what was going on but the girl was too out of breath to explain. Mob grinned devilishly.

"You're in my section, Punk." The freshman took off the aviator glasses and stared up at Mob.

"Oh...so that would make you..."

"Your section leader."

"Oh...oh great."

In an effort to keep order on the buses, most of the section leaders and captains were going to ride with the 9th graders. The ones who weren't were being forced into taking their friends' "necessary for my existence" gear.

"Nothing else! I can't stuff anything else in this truck, guys, it just won't fit," Specs was trying to explain to Kid Blink, Emotions, and Mush. Emotions was trying to keep her grip on the TV/DVD player in her arms but it kept slipping.

"Specs, you have got to put this in there! I don't care how but I'm not going to take it on the bus, forget it," she exclaimed, propping the weight up on her knee. Specs rubbed at his face and looked into the bed of his truck. Maybe between Zodiac's paraffin wax machine and Swinger's over-sized stereo...

"I'll pull rank on you!" Emotions squealed as the TV almost fell out of her hands.

"Alright, alright, but only yours." He rolled his eyes as he took the TV from the girl's worn out arms. "My rank's the same as yours anyways."

"Oh...it is, isn't it?" Emotions let a grin play on her face as she blushed with embarrassment. She was the woodwind captain while Specs was the brass captain. Emotions rubbed her arms, trying to get the feeling to come back. "Whatever, at least my stuff's in." She walked off towards the buses, an excited skip to her step. Emotion's was feeding off the freshmen's adventurous feelings towards the whole camp deal so she was in a perky mood.

"And just what are we supposed to do with these?" Blink asked, motioning with his head towards the Xboxes in his and Mush's arms. Specs shrugged as he tried to squash the TV between the other things. If Skittery hadn't insisted that he had to bring his microwave and mini-fridge...

"Ask Jack or Irish," he suggested gruffly. The pair sped off in Irish's direction, brushing past freshman with practiced ease. The colorguard captain groaned when she saw them coming.

"Not more Xboxes! What are you guys going to with so many?" Irish motioned to her fully-packed trunk. Three Xboxes had already been shoved into along with some of the other girls' things. Mush grinned at her.

"Halo!" he exclaimed with an exuberant air, holding out his Xbox to her. She couldn't help but grin at him and his childlike happiness. Sighing, she took it and crammed it in with the others.

"You're talking about that game where you shoot everyone, right?" She turned around to find both boys nodding foolishly. "So you two, Skittery, Racetrack, and David all play this?"

"At the same time!" Mush chirped.

"Jack, Specs, Itey, Spot, and Mob too but they've didn't bring theirs cause we can hook up all the ones we already have so we can play each other in a death match of capture the flag in bloody gore mode!" Blink said in an excited rush as he handed Irish his Xbox. She stared for a second.

"That's...great?"

"It sure is!" The two boys shouted in unison. Irish chuckled as they walked off, pushing and pulling at each other. They were so insane. Bookworm, the other colorguard captain, appeared soon after they had left, her backpack slung over her shoulder. She eyed the contents of Irish's trunk with amusement.

"Halo?" she asked with a laugh. Irish rolled her eyes.

"What else?"

* * *

Jack: Is it ova? 

Kid Blink: (smirks) I hope not, I'm in dis one a lot.

Mush: (reads story) Hey, me too! (starts pointing out his name to anyone who will look) See, I'm deah an' deah an' deah oh, look, I'm deah too!

Snipeshooter: I'm not in it at all! (wails) Why ain't I in tha story?!

(looks up from her laptop) Guys, I hate it when people read over my shoulder. You should know that by now. (tries to shoo nosy newsies away (hehe, nosy newsies! ))

Snipeshooter: (pouts) Why ain't I in tha story, Daydream?

Mush:...and deah...and deah...hey look, I think they're talkin' about me deah!

(grumbling) Snipes, you're young to be in this story. Mush, quit touching the computer screen! It's sensitive! (tries to protect computer from Mush)

Jack: Why's Mush in it more than I am?

Spot: (coming into room with a Coke and also looks over Day's shoulder since that seems to be a popular thing to do) Hey, I'm not in dis chapter enough. (glares at Daydream) A chapta ain't a chapta wit out Spot Conlon.

(shields her computer) No Coke! Not around the computer! And you are in the chapter! (scrolls up) Right there!

Spot: (grumbles)

Mush: (ecstatic) Look, I'm deah too!

Kid Blink: So it's not over?

(sighing) No, not by a long shot.

Snipeshooter: (whining) So why can't I be in it?

(about to kill newsies) GET OUT OF MY ROOM!!

Newsies: (all vacate with extreme speed except for Spot)

Spot: (scowling) Nobody orders Spot Conlon out of a room.

I'll order you out of the story!

Spot: (scowls darker) I'm leavin', but it isn't because you made me. I'm leavin' because I want to. (leaves)

(rolling her eyes) Man, they're so odd! Anyway, I want to thank everyone who sent in characters, they're all great! And really diverse! And wow, Lute, that was a TON of characters! Thanks again everybody!

Mush: (poking head back into room) So, when're ya gonna write da next chapta?

(pointing and shrieking) OUT, HEATHEN NEWSBOY!

Mush: Oo What?

Ugh... See ya in the next chapter! (jumps up to chase Mush out of the room)


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: (fingers hover over keyboard) I wonder...(yells) HEY RACETRACK!!

Racetrack: (pops head into room. He's in the middle of chewing of a red licorice Twizzler since no cigars are allowed in Daydream's house) Dat's me name! Whatcha want, kid?

I'm the same age as you, stupid, so don't call me kid. Anyways, did you wanna do the disclaimer? You said you wanted to do it last time...

Racetrack: (flings self onto bed) Yeah! Gimme...

Heya readas. Day ere said dat I could type da disclaimer so I am. Hold on, Day's naggin at me. Of course I gotta type like dis, it's da way I talk. If I didn't type like dis dey'd think it was youse and I don't want youse getting da credit for my creative talents. Hehe, she's mad now. Hey, Snipeshoota just walked in da room. He annoys da hell outta me, always stealin' my Twizzlas. I bet Daydream's gonna trow im out. Ha, I win, fork ova da dough. Oh, dat's right, youse can't. I guess ya could email me da money. Yeah dat'd wogsahhf#4klgragar$652gfl;'afJKSGSF!&?jy, lfh

Daydream here. Race was being too long-winded and he was annoying me. So HA, Racetrack, take THAT! He's giving me the evil look. Bleh. I guess the only thing left to say is that I don't own the Newsies or Mount Olive College. Perks if anyone goes there! Oh, and I'm never letting Race type the disclaimer again. Hehe, now he looks annoyed. Here's the next chapter!

With everything packed and roll call taken, the buses were ready to go. They pulled out of the school with four student vehicles following them, all headed to Mount Olive College. The upperclassmen immediately pulled out their CD-players while the freshmen delved into multi-colored Gameboys. On the first bus, Kid Blink and Mush were sitting across the aisle from each other, their legs thrown across into the other's seat so they would block the way for anyone trying to get by. A sudden electronic crackle made both of them sit up. They gave each other questioning looks as a static voice ripped into the air.

"Hey Kevin, can you hear me? Anybody there? YO KEVIN!" A current of complaint went through the bus. Blink turned around and peered into the seat behind him. A fuzzy-haired boy was frantically turning the volume down on a dark gray walkie-talkie. Blink's eyes lit up with mischief.

"Hey kid, can I see that?" he asked, smiling while he held out his hand for the walk-talkie. No one could resist the charismatic smile of Blink and he knew it. The boy looked up at him and frowned.

"Why?" Blink rolled his eyes. Suspicious little dork. He was about to reply when the static voice cut in again.

"Kevin, are you there or not? Hello? Hello? HELLO?! IS THIS THING WORKING?" The walkie-talkie vibrated violently until it almost fell out of poor Kevin's hands.

"I'm not going to steal it, that's Snitch's job." Blink said and then sighed at the freshman's confusion. "Don't worry about it; I just want to talk to one of my friends on the other bus." That seemed to be a good enough reason.

"Alright..." Kevin slowly handed Blink the walkie-talkie. Blink snatched it with childish excitement and retreated back to his seat with a little laugh. Kevin basically flung himself across the back of the bus seat, his face the picture of panic. He almost began to hyperventilate. "Don't break it, it's my Dad's! He'd kill me if anything happened to it!" Mush had sensed the promise of trouble and had left his seat to sit beside Blink. The trombone section leader looked up at the freshman and smiled.

"Chill, dude. Blink's careful with stuff that isn't his, aren't you Blink?" he reassured Kevin. Not getting a reply, Mush elbowed Blink in the ribs.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm wonderful...how do you call the other one?" He was pushing all the buttons he could find. Kevin pointed towards the white button that clearly stated 'talk' in black letters. "I knew that." Blink pressed it. "Hello? Anybody there?"

"You're not Kevin! Where is he?" The static voice sounded irritable. Blink grinned with triumph.

"He's right here but I'm borrowing the walkie-talkie right now. Could you give yours to a guy named Itey? He'll give it back in a little while," Blink said. There was a pause before the voice came back on.

"Who is this anyway?"

"Kid Blink, and you would be?"

"Fiona Wallace." The girl sounded pleased with herself. "Who's Itey?"

"He's um...got black hair, uh, I dunno, the girls say that he's adorable in his Iteyness but I have no idea what that's supposed to mean. He's probably wearing a bucket hat and singing that stupid Dr. Demento's Funny Farm song..."

"Oh him! Yeah, he's in the back. Hold on." There was silence for a while and then Itey's voice came on in its usual cheerfulness.

"Hiya Blink!"

"Hey Itey! It's Mush!" Mush had forcefully ripped the walkie-talkie out of Blink's hand. Blink hit him upside the head. "Blinkers is still here though."

"Unfortunately," Itey said with a laugh. Blink grumbled and tried to grab the walkie-talkie back from Mush but his friend was faster, easily ducking and leaning closer to the window. "Who's walkie-talkie is this?" asked Itey.

"Some kid named Kevin." Mush looked at Kevin who was staring at his walkie-talkie with fright. "Hey Kevin, what instrument do you play?"

"Bells." Kevin answered nervously.

"Hey, he's yours!"

"Awesome! Hi, my mini-minion of the pit!" Itey yelled joyfully. Kevin raised his eyebrows.

"What does he mean by 'minion'?" he asked. Mush grinned but didn't answer him.

"He says hi back...now what?" There was a moment of silence.

"I dunno. Hey, what if I sing Dr. Demento? Wouldn't that be cool?" Mush and Blink stared at each other in horror.

"NOOO!" They shouted in unison. The rest of the bus cried out against the disruption and some angry person tossed a cheese cracker at them. It bounced off Kevin's head and fell into the seat.

"Alright then, if you don't want to hear my wonderful singing skills then I'm not talking any more. Bye!" Itey ended and cut off his walkie-talkie.

"Yeah, sure. Oh, wait, I mean 10-4, good buddy!" Mush beamed, proud of his radio lingo.

"This is sweet!" Blink exclaimed as he took back the walkie-talkie. He started to switch around the stations and listen in on the truck drivers. Kevin leaned back in his seat, satisfied that Blink and Mush weren't going to destroy his dad's electronics.

"Yeah, but a freshman thought of it."

"Well, we would have thought about it if they hadn't thought of it already." Kid Blink said in his own twisted logic. Mush nodded slowly.

"Whatever you say, Blink."

On the other bus, a fourteen-year-old named Kelly Pagulong was ruffling through her bag, searching in vain for new batteries. A little hesitant, she leaned over the seat in front of her. Fox was sitting with her knees drawn up to her chest. Her attention was focused on the tattered book she was reading.

"Excuse me, but do you have any extra batteries? I forgot mine," Kelly said politely. Fox looked up at the freshman with a cheerful smile on her face.

"I think so, hold on a minute." Fox grabbed her back bag and began to ruffle through it. Kelly watched as she came up empty-handed. "One second." Fox leaned across the aisle and tapped Zodiac on the shoulder. Zodiac blinked rapidly before turning off her CD-player. The musical soundings of RENT slowly faded as the girl turned to regard her friend. "Hey, Zo, you have any batteries?"

"Yeah, what kind?" she replied as she opened her crimson and black backpack. Fox gave a generous smirk.

"You brought more than one kind?"

"To be with only one kind of battery is to be at loss." Zodiac replied flatly.

"You brought your stereo, didn't you?" Fox asked, laughter in her voice. Zodiac lifted her eyebrows with an imperious nature.

"If you say so."

"Ugh..." Fox groaned and popped a hand to her forehead. She turned back to Kelly. "What kind do you need?" Kelly scrambled to look at her CD-player.

"Uh, double A's." Zodiac nodded and dug through her bag. Soon enough, the elusive batteries popped up in her hand. A half-smile on her face, she handed them to Kelly.

"Here you go. By the way, what's your name?" Kelly smiled as Zodiac gave her the batteries.

"Thank you. It's Kelly Pagulong."

"How do you say that again? Tagalong? Pacalung?" Fox queried, trying to fit her tongue around the name. Kelly stifled a laugh.

"Um, no, it's Pag-U-long." She corrected, stressing the 'u'. Fox shrugged indifferently.

"Oh well, I'm Fox and this," Fox motioned across the aisle with a flippant swish, "is Zodiac, the resident freak of nature."

"Learn to love." Zodiac exclaimed in her usual fashion. Fox rolled her green eyes.

"You are so odd." She declared, shaking her head. "So, who do you belong to, Kelly?"

"Uh, the band?" Kelly answered nervously. She had never been very good when it came to meeting new people. Kelly was surprised when a couple laughs came back at her.

"Ha, good answer!" Racetrack exclaimed with a chuckle. He had been listening in on the conversation since he was already bored with electronic solitaire. Kelly gave him a weak smile.

"No, I mean which section are you in? Who's your section leader?" Fox asked in simpler phrasing. Kelly grinned with a little blush to her cheeks.

"Oh, Skittery. He told me that was his real name but it isn't, is it?" Fox laughed, her bright smile lighting up her face.

"Skittery's an arse. His real name is Thomas but don't tell him who told you that."

"What's with all the nicknames anyway?" A dark-haired boy appeared over the top of the seat in front of Zodiac. Zo scowled and sunk farther down in her seat. Freshmen...pff.

"Just a time-honored band tradition. And you are?" Fox questioned, narrowing her green eyes. She had a suspicious feeling that he was a brass player. They almost all had that certain boldness about them that trumpet players were the poster boys for.

"Allen Takers. I play trumpet." He smiled brightly at his prestigious instrument. The nearby upperclassmen inwardly groaned. Not another mini-Blink.

"Ah, your Blink's. Anyways, everyone gets a nickname. Without a nick, you aren't anything." Fox's answer had an edge to it. Allen put his chin on the back of the seat and looked pointedly at her.

"I asked my friend when we would get nicknames and he said that you wouldn't nickname us 'til band camp. Why's that?" Fox smirked as she laid her book down on the seat. She obviously would be getting any reading done anytime soon since there was so much informing to be done.

"Nicknames have to be agreed upon by the section leaders and it's a lot of fun to nickname you for something stupid you did at camp." She told him, a grin playing on her lips. Racetrack decided that he might as well join the conversation too.

"Yeah, for example there's this flute player, Meggara, who stuck a fork into an electrical socket on ice cream night her ninth grade year."

"What happened?" Kelly asked. Her innocent brown eyes were wide. Racetrack smirked, glad to have an appreciative audience.

"Duh, she got electrocuted. It was hilarious after we figured out she wasn't hurt. Or, at least, wasn't in need of medical assistance." Across the aisle from Racetrack, Swinger snickered.

"You should've seen her hair! She was nicknamed Sparks as a commemoration to it."

"So nicknames are always bad?" Kelly questioned tentatively. Racetrack snorted. At this rate, the kid was going to be stuck with some name like Timid or Blush. Fox beat him to the answer.

"Not bad, just ironically funny."

"I think that means yes, Kelly," Allen told the girl. Kelly frowned.

"But if you did something good, could you be nicknamed after that?" Race laughed at her.

"You're delusional." As he said this, a silent agreement went out between the four upperclassmen sitting around. Fox winked at Zodiac who smiled wryly at Racetrack who nodded at Swinger who grinned at the back of Kelly's head. Delusional it would be then.

"So how'd you get the name Fox, Fox?" Allen asked with a grin.

"I wasn't interesting as a freshman, so they named me after my hair color." She shrugged as she ran her fingers through her reddish-brown hair. "It could've been worse."

"Fox isn't that bad of a nickname," Kelly said with a hopeful touch to her voice. Fox smiled gratefully.

"It's better than some of the others I've heard of," she said. Zodiac let a slim smirk strike out across her lips. She was in a very contrary mood today.

"So you're saying that your nickname is superior to others?"

"Zodiac! Don't twist my words!" Fox demanded playfully.

"I am not twisting, I am simply asking a loaded question."

"Where'd you get Zodiac from?" Allen burst in before their swiftly growing argument could escalate. Zodiac gave him an irritated look.

"I stole it from the nickname store," She replied darkly. Racetrack raised an eyebrow into one of his favorite expressions.

"Wow, Zo, what put you in such a bad mood?" he asked. Zodiac could be strange at times, but she was rarely this snappy. She slowly turned her head to glare at him.

"I am riding in a bus filled with freshmen on the way to freshmen marching camp early in the morning. There is no reason to happy, Race!" Racetrack grinned as he realized what was wrong.

"You ran out of coffee, didn't you?"

"YES!" Race, Fox, and Swinger laughed. They all knew Zodiac had to have her morning coffee or she didn't function very well. Usually she just refused to function. Zodiac grumbled and shoved her headphones on. Soon enough RENT was heard throughout the bus as Zodiac tried to drown out her anger with her CD-player. Swinger looked over at Allen who was sporting an annoyed expression.

"Her nickname's way more interesting than Fox's." Swinger swiped at the wad of paper Fox threw at her head. "Zo's a lover of the paranormal. She used the megaphone to read out everyone's horoscopes from the newspaper every morning at camp her freshman year. Everyone was ready to wring her neck by the end of the week." Zodiac frowned. She had turned down the volume of her CD-player so she could hear what Swinger was saying about her.

"They were unappreciative barbarians," she snapped before twirling the volume back up to the max. The freshmen both nodded their blind agreement. Allen seemed to be satisfied with all this new information and drew back into his seat to succumb to the awesome power of Donkey Kong. Kelly smiled at Fox.

"I hope I get a good nickname," she said wistfully. Fox winked knowingly.

"I wouldn't worry about it, Kelly, we've got you covered." She picked her book up off the seat and went back to reading. Kelly returned to her CD-player, the root of that lengthy conversation.

A half a state and a couple hours later, a girl suddenly burst out of her seat with a brilliant smile on her face. She was clutching a walkie-talkie in her hand while waving her arms around. "Hey everybody, Kevin says that Blink says that Emotions says that Mr. Talington says we're here!" The bus let out a simultaneous roar of relief that would have busted out the windows if it was possible. Everyone erupted into motion to grab their carry-ons and stow away their CD-players and games. The bus driver began yell at the chaperones and the chaperones yelled at the section leaders who were too busy trying to get ready to do anything about the situation. So, as a result, chaos reigned. The Mount Olive college sign rolled into view and Itey launched into the "Pickle Song" that he had created his freshman year. It had become a tradition that would be passed down through the ages of the band.

"Mount Olive, Mount Olive, pickle capital of the world! How you make my mouth water with the pickletyness of your meals! Pickled picklety pickles is all we get at our Mount Olive college camp!" Itey's voice was joined by the other upperclassmen on the bus, followed by the freshmen as they picked up the quirky little tune. Fiona, the freshman girl with the walkie-talkie, turned it on so the other bus could hear their racket. Pretty soon both buses were bursting with Itey's "Pickle Song" as they rounded the olive-treed driveway of Mount Olive College. Behind the buses in her little Chevy, Irish looked over at Bookworm who had burst out laughing.

"Is that what I think it is?" Irish asked with a half-cocked eyebrow. Bookworm nodded, still grinning.

"The "Pickle Song"!" she answered. Both girls threw away all the senior restrictions and joined the band camp theme song. As the procession of buses, cars, and trucks rolled into the parking lot, Itey was left with a solo ending note.

"AMMMPPPPPPP!" he sang out as he hopped out of the bus through the back door. Swinger, who was right behind him, reached forward and grabbed his bucket hat. Itey's hands flew to his head before he turned to gawk in fake horror at Swinger.

"Hey!"

"Hey yourself," Swinger said as she jumped out of the bus and situated the hat on her head. Itey lunged at her, trying to grab his beloved hat. Swinger was faster; she had one hand on the hat as she darted away from Itey, a smug look on her face. She yanked the bucket hat down further on her head before sashaying proudly over to the growing group of band students. The freshmen and their section leaders had gathered around their band director in the middle of the parking lot. The more curious of the lot kept shooting looks over at the relatively small campus. The campus was quaint and very rural in its setting. Across the road was a long stretch of cotton fields with a silo in the middle. Directly beside and almost touching the parking lot was the barren-looking soccer field where they would march. There were no bleachers or anything, just the field out in the middle of nowhere. Mr. Talington and his army of chaperones soon had the band students under a minimal degree of control.

"So, did everyone have a good trip?" Mr. Talington asked though he already knew the answer. The band students grumbled their disagreements.

"There're no bathrooms on those buses!" someone complained rather loudly.

"Give us our keys already!"

"Yeah!" the others demanded in an angry unison.

"Fine, but I would like everyone to remember that dinner is at 6 o'clock sharp and the meeting is at eight." The director reminded them before he started to call out roommates and room numbers. Mob and Spoon were already at the trailer, throwing bags and backpacks out onto the ground. A freshman girl suddenly screamed as a purple backpack flew through the air, "My glasses!" Needless to say, Mob and Spoon were more careful with the baggage after that. Spot had rounded up his percussionists and was dictating the careful unloading of his truck, including his own bags. Soon enough there was a steady line of band students running from the trailer to the campus dorm buildings, all of them dragging their luggage behind them.

A/N: I'm changing the summary because I didn't like the first one. I'll figure out something else that's along the same lines, but I decided that I can't really do that exact storyline. It's too far-fetched. And I'm sorry I didn't update sooner, I had a bunch of homework and band and what-not! We came in first at our last competition! YAY!! I hope to update sooner! And if you character hasn't been mentioned much or at all, I wouldn't worry about. Just keep reading! Please review since you've already read!

A/N2: For Hope Diamonde, Erin Go Bragh/Lyra, and Spaz: I could still use some characters if y'all really wanna be in the fic! Just email me and tell me you want in and I'll send you the CC. Brass would be appreciated though I'll take the others too. (grins)


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